Harry Potter Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Harry Potter Wiki
"Over the murmur of the river he could make out more voices, but they were not speaking English or any human language he had ever heard. It was a rough and unmelodious tongue, a string of rattling, guttural noises..."
— Harry Potter overhears Griphook and Gornuk converse in Gobbledegook.[src]
Goblin

A Goblin, speaker of Gobbledegook

Gobbledegook was the native language of the goblins. It had been described as a harsh, rasping language, which made it sound distinctly inhuman.[1] It was able to be spoken by wizards; Rowland Oakes,[2] Barty Crouch Snr,[3] Dirk Cresswell,[1] and Albus Dumbledore were known to speak the language. Gobbledegook was one of the seventy-two languages in which Miranda Goshawk's Book of Spells was published in.[4]

History[]

"It wasn't easy learning the language — it's complex and my memory's as weak as my knees these days. But after decades working with fine goblin folk, I grew fairly proficient. At least, I'd like to think so."
Rowland Oakes[src]

The hamlet of Irondale used to have a name in Gobbledegook when it was founded by goblins. However it was changed when witches and wizards moved there, which pushed the goblins out.[5]

During the 1890–1891 school year, Amit Thakkar claimed to be a self-taught speaker of Gobbledegook.[6] However: Lodgok concluded that he could read far better than he could speak it.[7] Rowland Oakes, a wizard metal trader, was fluent in Gobbledegook, and used the language to conduct his business with goblins.[2]

At the Three Broomsticks Inn in Hogsmeade, it was spoken by two goblins who were defrauded by Ludovic Bagman in 1995.[8]

In 1997, Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ronald Weasley overheard fellow fugitives Dirk Cresswell and the goblins Gornuk and Griphook converse in Gobbledegook, while the trio were on the run from the Snatchers.[1]

Professor Binns could recite the 1752 goblin accords in perfect Gobbledegook.[9]

Known words[]

Etymology[]

Gobbledygook, or Gibberish, are synonyms of the word "nonsense". It's likely that wizards started calling the language Gobbledegook, because it sounded unlike any language they knew and seemed just gibberish in their ears. It is possible or even likely, that Gobbledegook language is referred to with an completely different word in Gobbledegook.

Of course, there is also the possibility that Gobbledegook is called just that (or some close phonetical approximation) in the language. The similarity of the words "goblin" and "gobbledegook" should not be dismissed out of hand. If this is the case, it is not too hard to imagine how it might have made its way into muggle language through some muggle-borns accidentally letting the word slip when they went back home for vacation.

Behind the scenes[]

Appearances[]

Notes and references[]

See also[]

Advertisement